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Rosie Napravnik’s: Racing for the win!

Today marks the first leg of the Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby. Although it takes years of training and a lifetime of dreams, this afternoon only 20 thoroughbreds will race before the world in the Kentucky Derby — the fastest two minutes in sports.

Today Rosie Napravnik will try and make history riding Mylute: to become the first woman to ever win the Kentucky Derby. Rosie is no stranger to horses or the fast moving world of the races.

She began riding ponies at the age of 2 and by the time she was 7 she already knew that she wanted to be a jockey. She began riding races in 2005 and has already won more than 1500 races, 3 consecutive riding titles at The Fairgrounds Racecourse, and ridden an undefeated Eclipse Champion in Shanghai Bobby. She became the first female jockey to win the Kentucky Oaks in 2012 aboard Believe You Can. In 2011 she rode Pants on Fire in the Kentucky Derby to a 9th place finish, the best by a female jockey to date.

Mylute’s trainer, Tom Amoss is a huge fan of Rosie (and should be with her impressive background)! “Her biggest strength is tremendous knowledge of pace,” Amoss said. “For those who don’t understand that, a fifth of a second is a length in horse racing. That means one second is five lengths – it’s not hard to understand that knowing where to place your horse to give it the best chance to finish on the end is extremely important.

“And second, she just has an ability to communicate with horses that I haven’t seen since Pat Day. He had it, Rosie’s got it, and I don’t know how to define it. It’s a God-given gift.”

Here is a little more about Mylute for those Derby fans out there:

We will be wishing her luck today as she tries for a shot at history! Good luck Rosie!